It's not the deeds that are monstrous - it's the reminders that are.

And we (most of us and most definitely myself) DID do something wrong. That we did the best we could (which I didn't), that we adhered to the "best" nutritional advice available (which I didn't) doesn't change that we did not treat our bodies properly.

I'm 37 years old. Dr. A's first book is nearly as old as I am. The information has always been there for the taking. I got my weight under control in my late teens and did very well. And then let all that get away from me. I could have prevented it. The fact that I tried to prevent it using the wrong methods IS my fault. No one force fed me.

Some - many - of the things I did wrong I knew I was doing wrong at the time. The fact that the things I thought I was doing right were also wrong is a sad fact of reality. But they were wrong none-the-less and I'm the one that did them none-the-less.

I does me absolutely no good to pretend that I did nothing wrong - that I was somehow an innocent victim suffering from society's misdeeds. Instead, I have to learn WHY I did all the things wrong and work on changing that. Some of the things I did wrong because of not recognizing the emotional stress that changes in my life were placing me under - and I paid a DEAR price for that. So I've learned to be much more introspective and understand my emotions and motivations and control my responses where appropriate - and I've gotten pretty good at it. Some of the things I did wrong because of being misinformed. So I've identified those as best I can and set out to better education myself. Some things I did wrong because of basic laziness of various types. So I have tried, with moderate success, to deal with those head to head. Some of the things I did wrong because I was trying to change things that were beyond my ability to change. So I've learned to recognize those and accept them or at least see if the desired outcome can be met another way. And if it can't, then I just have to accept that it can't.